Moving On
by ninz
Summary: Contains DH Spoilers! A series of short scenes that could have happened during the nineteenyears that JKR left out. 2nd chapter: Ron pays Hermione, Harry and Ginny a visit at Hogwarts
1. Chapter 1

**Title:** Moving On

**Author's Notes:** This will be a series of scenes that could have taken place after the war at the end of book 7, but before the epilogue. They will be mostly about Ron and Hermione I guess, since they're my favourite characters. I hope you'll enjoy them… (unbeta'd, please try to ignore mistakes; I am also looking for a beta reader for my HP stories, so if you know anybody, let me know!)

**Disclaimer:** Not mine because if they were there would be a lot more _Ron&Hermione_ scenes in the books (can't wait for the last movie, where they will hopefully get together like they did in the book!)

XXX

Ron sighed and turned over in the bed, trying to get warm. He drew his legs up and curled into a ball, like he used to when he was cold at night as a kid. He sighed again.

He wasn't a kid anymore. In fact, what had happened only two hours ago in this same bed was a proof of that. He and Hermione had had sex. Not their first time, but definitely the best. So far.

The thought made Ron grin to himself. Mind you, this was Fred's bed. And although he – like the rest of the family – hadn't gotten over Fred's death yet, Ron couldn't help feeling amused at the thought of Fred's face if he knew that his younger brother had had sex with his girlfriend in his – _Fred's_ – bed.

But amusement faded at the thought that Hermione was gone now, back to school as the new term would start tomorrow. In fact, it had actually started today, but lessons wouldn't be starting until tomorrow. Knowing that they wouldn't see eachother for a while now Hermione had chosen to skip the feast at the beginning of the term and spend the evening with Ron. But late at night she had had to leave, nonetheless.

Unlike Harry and Hermione, Ron had decided not to go back to Hogwarts for his seventh year. At least not yet. The reason had mainly been the fact that, now that Fred was dead, George could use his help in the shop. Their parents hadn't been thrilled with Ron's decision, but had agreed that it wasn't such a bad idea. After all, George was still having trouble coping without Fred, although he was trying to hide it.

Still unable to get warm alone in the huge bed, and unable to get to sleep, Ron decided that he could as well get up and start tidying up the mess he and Hermione had left in the twin's small flat that was – for now – Ron's new home. Fortunately George had had the decency to go out that night, spending the evening at his parents', when he had heard that Hermione was going to come over on her last night before the new school term.

Ron couldn't help worrying about his older brother. George hadn't had date or anything ever since their brother's death, and although neither of the twins had ever been one for a relationship, both of them had had dated so many girls – both witches _and_ muggle girls – that Ron had had lost count a long time ago.

But not anymore. In fact George had withdrawn from most of his former social contacts, leaving his family to wonder if he was ever going to be the same again.

When Ron entered the small living-room he groaned at the mess he saw. He didn't remember it being that bad. The small kitchen area still showed the remnants of his disastrous attempts of cooking a meal and the cushions that should have been on the small old couches were spread all over the place from when they – which meant he and Hermione – had almost got carried away until remembering Fred's portrait that hung over a sideboard on the wall.

The portrait had been empty all evening – Fred probably having decided to visit the one hanging in his parents' living room – but there was always a chance he'd come back any moment and even with Hermione around Ron could never get carried away so much he'd risk having sex in front of his dead brother.

With another deep sigh Ron started rummaging through the mess looking for his wand – for it would definitely make tidying up much easier – when a voice startled him: "I take it she left, then?"

Ron turned around to see that Fred had finally returned to the portrait in his own flat. "Yeah…" he replied simply and instead of continuing to tidy up he flopped down on the nearest couch and yawned.

"Had a good time then, you two, while doing it…? In _my_ bed?"

Ron's eyes widened in surprise and shock. "You know?"

Now Fred looked offended. "Do I know? For heavens sake, Ron, how stupid you think I am?"

"But… but… you weren't there. Or were you?"

The offended look was replaced by a grin. "Well, I came to see how the two of you were doing, and it wasn't hard to tell that you were doing okay, judging from the way you were going at it on the couch. I was almost afraid I'd have to watch the whole thing going down if I stayed any longer, when you suddenly stopped and went into my room."

Ron stared at his brother. "How did you know we… erm… continued?"

Rolling his eyes Fred answered: "Don't pretend to be that thick, Ron, it was _audible_."

Now Ron could feel himself blush and to make things worse he heard the flat's door being closed and a moment later George entered the room. For the first time in weeks he was wearing a curious expression rather than a depressed one. "What was audible?" he asked looking first at Ron and then at Fred in the portrait, who was still grinning.

"Ickle Ronnikins just had sex. In my room", Fred explained.

"It's my room now…" Ron tried to argue, but Fred ignored him as he added: "In _my_ bed."

"Yuck", said George, looking at his younger brother who had already given up on arguing and was squirming to get out of this situation.

"I think I really need rid of this mess, so could you leave me alone while I start tidying up?" he asked in an annoyed tone.

Of course, neither of the twins agreed. Instead George sat down on the couch, beside Ron and placed an arm around his younger brothers' shoulders. "Don't worry about the mess. You can do it tomorrow. And don't let Fred get to you." He turned towards his twin brothers' portrait and gave Fred a stern look. "Maybe we should leave Ron alone for a while – he's being a great help lately."

"I am not denying that. Mum even said that it's all up to him that you will reopen the shop."

With a shrug George admitted: "It probably is. At first I didn't want to reopen at all but then Ron said…"

"Could you please stop talking about me as if I wasn't there?" Ron asked, feeling rather irritated now.

Both twins turned their attention on him and – much to Ron's surprise – did something they had never done before; they apologized to him. He almost thought that next they would start getting sentimental and start thanking him for his help but – _fortunately_, he thought – it didn't happen. Instead George withdrew his arm from around Ron's shoulders but bent over to whisper in his brother's ear – not without making sure he was still loud enough for Fred to hear, though: "You will have to forgive Fred – he thinks he has to make up for the fact that he is dead now… probably feels left out or something."

Ron grinned, while Fred looked he wanted to throw something at his brothers. He couldn't, though, because he was still dead, and he wouldn't come back, but at least Ron had noticed a little change in George tonight. Maybe he was getting closer to becoming his old self after all. And that, Ron thought, was even worth the embarrassment of having Fred overhear him having sex with Hermione.


	2. Chapter 2

Here is another short scene from Ron's and Hermione's life, as I imagine it between the battle at Hogwarts and what happened in the epilogue. I have got a few more in my head, hopefully I will be able to write them down soon so I can post them. Ron and Hermione will the main characters in most scenes, but I decided to include George, too, as much as I can, because I didn't like the fact that the book never told us how he is coping, after Fred's death.

Ok, no more blabla... Enjoy the new chapter!

XXX

„I've been thinking…", said Ron, causing Hermione to raise her eyebrows.

"So you _do_ think", she said into the pause Ron had made. He turned his head and glared at her before turning his attention back to the cup of hot tea that was sitting on the table in front of him. He was holding with both hands, hoping it would warm them up.

Opposite him and Hermione Harry and Ginny looked at eachother, grinning.

Ignoring Hermione's comment Ron finally finished his sentence, "… about going back to school, next year."

"So?" asked Hermione, still with raised eyebrows. "Did you come to a conclusion?"

"Yes", said Ron. "I am not going back."

"But what about your NEWTs?" Hermione asked at once, raising her voice a little bit.

"Well, I thought, I could take the exams at the ministry, they offer evening classes, don't they? And I kinda hoped that maybe you could teach me a little of…"

"Oh no, no way." Hermione shook her head adamantly. "I won't be your teacher, I am not doing that to myself!"

Ron pulled a face and Harry's and Ginny's grins became even wider.

The four of them were sitting at a table inside the_ Three Broomsticks_ after a nice long walk through Hogsmeade on a particularly cold Sunday afternoon in early October. Being of age Harry, Ginny and Hermione were free to leave the school grounds at any time when they didn't have any classes to attend.

It was one of those beautiful autumn days; the leaves on the trees had started to turn red and yellow and the sun was shining from a cloudless sky, yet the air was so cold it could as well have been early December. But the four of them had enjoyed their walk nonetheless.

Being a Hogwarts student in their seventh year meant a lot of hard work and studying. Hermione hadn't had time to see Ron for over a month. Finally he had had enough finally and had sent an owl to announce that he was going to come to see her, whether she had time or not. Hermione had been excited for days, so excited even that she hadn't been able to concentrate on her studies. Unfortunately that meant that she couldn't have him visit too often – it was too much of a distraction.

Of course, she knew better than to tell him that just now.

Right now he was pouting, anyway. "So, you don't want me to take my NEWTs or do you just don't want to help me?" he asked, pretending to be hurt.

"Of course, I will help you, Ron", said Hermione and made room on the table for the four plates of apple pie that were being served now. "But I don't want to be your teacher – we'd just end up arguing the whole time."

"Well, that's true, maybe", Ron admitted. He let go of his teacup and started on his pie immediately. The walk had obviously made him hungry. "But I have made my decision – I won't go back to school. I mean, think about it – I'd bee two years older than my classmates when I will come back next year."

"Why not come back now?" said Harry. "You've only missed a month so far – if you make a real effort, you could…"

"Nah", said Ron. "I can't leave George alone with the shop, at the moment. Business is going great – which, of course, is good news – but it also means a lot of work. I am even surprised, I got Sunday afternoon off – there's always something to do. But at least I am making money. – Hey, how 'bout going on holiday next summer? I was thinking maybe Spain or something…" he added turning towards Hermione.

"A holiday? In Spain?" Hermione asked, sceptically. "You can afford that?"

"Easily", said Ron, grinning. "As I said business is great. We're – well, we, that's _Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes_, of course – we're famous. Thanks to Fred. After that article in _Prophet_ a couple of weeks ago, every British wizard knows his name and they also know about the shop. Fred's become a real hero, and people keep coming to buy some of his inventions. We are making so much money – I have even enough to put some of it aside…"

Ron was interrupted by Ginny who gave a snort. "You? Putting some money aside and actually _save_ it?"

Ron ignored her and turned to Hermione again: "…in case we want to get our place when you've finished school."

"You want us to live together?" Hermione asked, trying to sound sceptical again, but couldn't help stop herself from beaming at him.

"Sure, we're both almost nineteen… why not?" Ron said, looking pleased with himself, when he saw his girlfriend's reaction to his suggestion.

Looking at his happy face Hermione had to laugh. "Well, I certainly feel flattered but I think we should decide that next summer. There's plenty of time to think about it after I've taken my exams."

Ron looked a bit disappointed, but didn't say anything.

To change the subject, Hermione asked: "How's your family?"

"They're doing okay, considering", said Ron and smiled at Ginny, who was listening closely, too. It wasn't a secret that his sister worried a lot about their family while being away at school, especially their mother. She was always eager for Ron to tell her the latest news, as he saw his parents regularly. "But Mum still starts crying, sometimes; and you can never know, when it will happen and what's going trigger it. It's like walking on eggshells. But everybody else has finally started to get back to normal, even George… he even went out for a drink with Lee on Friday night. I was really surprised; they haven't done that in ages."

"George send me a letter the other day", said Ginny. "Said he was doing fine, but then, he wouldn't tell me if he wasn't, would he?"

Ron shrugged. "Dunno. George and I… well, we've never been particularly close. Come to think of it, I don't think he was really close to anybody in our family, 'cept Fred, of course."

Ginny nodded. "Mum said, she's still worried about him. He's not himself."

"Yeah, but you know Mum", Ron replied. "She's always worrying. She's making it so much harder for herself. I wish, she would stop and try to relax once in a while. Instead she's fretting about how we work too much and how we need to eat more and whatever else she can think of. Last week she came up with the idea that we should all meet up for a huge family dinner once or even _twice_ a week." He accentuated the word 'twice' with an almost disgusted expression.

"What about your parents?" Harry asked Hermione, who was thankful for a slight change of subject because Ginny had already opened her mouth to start arguing with Ron about their mother's behaviour. "Any news?"

"Not yet. But I didn't expect them to be found so quickly. Australia is big, and that's exactly why I sent them there – to make it hard to find them. Of course I knew it would be hard for me to find them, as well. But their safety comes first of course."

"You miss them?", asked Ginny, sympathetically.

Hermione nodded. "Yes, I do."

"Dad has a contact in the Australian ministry", said Ron. He had finished his pie and was now reaching for Hermione's hand to give her a gentle squeeze. His hand was warm and as always, when they touched, Hermione felt better immediatly. "He made sure that every wizard in the country has your parents' description. If anybody sees them we will be the first to know. Thanks to the International Floo Network we can be there within an hour."

"Isn't that very expensive?" asked Harry. "The IFN, I mean?"

"Yeah", said Ron with a shrug. "But don't forget I'm rich now; I can afford it…"

"What would I do without you?" said Hermione, using a slightly sarcastic tone.

"Dunno, but you life would certainly be much harder", said Ron confidently.

Hermione just looked at him with raised eyebrows.

"Okay, okay - but at least it would be much less interesting, would it?" Ron corrected quickly.

"There, maybe, you are right", she said and bent over to give him a kiss on the cheek before leaning her head on his shoulder and enjoying the warm feeling that overcame her when he put his arm around her and pulled her close.


End file.
